Lyr Req:Oh ye cannae shove yer grannie aff the bus

Subject: Lyr Add: You canna throw your granny off the bu
From: Kitty
Date: 05 Sep 04 - 07:27 PM

From the dept of wierd lyrics: anyone have lyrics to this? I have a verse, but not more than that:
to the tune of She'll be comin round the mountain..."
You canna throw your granny off the bus,
You canna throw your granny off the bus
You canna throw your granny
Cause she is your mammy's mammy
You canna throw your granny off the bus.

Any other verses? I love intelligent songs like this
k

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: You canna throw your grannie from the bu
From: Kitty
Date: 05 Sep 04 - 07:29 PM

Did I use the wrong prefix? Probably should have used Lyr Req... Sorry Still new at this.

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: You canna throw your grannie from the bu
From: Compton
Date: 05 Sep 04 - 07:29 PM

Kitty, try a scottish song..but I think, "you cannae SHOVE your granny off a bus !!"

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: You canna throw your grannie from the bu
From: Leadfingers
Date: 05 Sep 04 - 07:34 PM

'Ye Canna Shove Your Grannie' - In the D T with several verses Kitty

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: You canna throw your grannie from the bu
From: Compton
Date: 05 Sep 04 - 07:39 PM

Scottish kids song??

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: You canna throw your grannie from the bu
From: Malcolm Douglas
Date: 05 Sep 04 - 07:57 PM

Pretty well known; but do bear in mind that there are likely to be spelling variations, particularly when Scottish song texts are posted here by people unfamiliar with the idiom, and who often have quite odd ideas about the appropriate spelling and grammar. And, of course, Scottish vernacular orthography varies a lot more than does Standard English of either the UK or American varieties.

There are two files in the DT:

YE CANNA SHOVE YER GRANNY (deleted-duplicate)
YE CANNA SHOVE YER GRANNIE

They are identical but for the spelling of "grannie / granny", and the fact that one has a link to a tune. Both were harvested (presumably by different people) from the same original text, which as it happens was supplied by someone who is very familiar with Scottish forms. The problem seems to be that the original was two separate texts, from different (print) sources, with "Granny" spelled differently in each; in the DT file they are combined as if they were a single song, though the footnotes clearly distinguish between them.

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: You canna throw your grannie from the
From: Charley Noble
Date: 05 Sep 04 - 08:25 PM

Kitty-

Isn't wonderful that there are other people in the world who love this kind of song as well?

Cheerily,
Charley Noble

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: You canna throw your grannie from the bu
From: Joybell
Date: 05 Sep 04 - 08:32 PM

Yes, Kitty, me too. I think I might teach my granddaughter this one. I'd forgotten about it. Thanks for reminding us. Joy

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: You canna throw your grannie from the bu
From: Kitty
Date: 05 Sep 04 - 08:35 PM

Any time!! It will be one I foist upon family members when they least expect it....
Kitty

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: You canna throw your grannie from the bu
From: Deckman
Date: 05 Sep 04 - 08:59 PM

I first heard this song on Sandy Paton's first record, in the fifties. The one where he's wearing all the hats and doesn't like to be reminded of it! CHEERS, Bob

Subject: RE: Lyr req: You canna throw your grannie off the bus
From: GUEST,HipflaskAndy
Date: 06 Sep 04 - 02:39 PM

Hi Kitty - verse two was always sung in oor hoose as....

You can throw your other granny off a bus,
You can throw your other granny off a bus
You can throw your other granny
Cause she's yer daddy's mammy
You can throw your other granny off a bus

....and if I remember right, went on to...

Singing I will if you will, so will I
Singing I will if you will, so will I
Singing I will if you will
I will if you will
Singing I will if you will, so will I.

That's me awa' the noo. Cheerio. HFA

Subject: RE: Lyr req: You canna throw your grannie off the bus
From: GUEST,HipflaskAndy
Date: 06 Sep 04 - 03:31 PM

Oops! That's what happens when ya copy and paste rather than type...
I have, of course, used Kitty's original piece as a template and missed the 'mistake' there - on second read of the thread I spot the 'shove' not 'throw' bit.
Aye! Should read 'shove' not 'throw' throughout. Och well,
That's me away - HFA

Subject: RE: Lyr req: You canna throw your grannie off the
From: Scabby Douglas
Date: 06 Sep 04 - 08:34 PM

If you're looking to follow up with another couple of fragments set to the same tune...

try:

It wis murder, mchty murder in the hoose
When the cat, it done a rumba wi the moose
When ah hit it it wi a poker,
It done a carioca
It wis murder michty muder in the hoose

Ah'm no Hairy Mary, ah'm yer maw
Ah'm no Hairy Mary, ah'm yer maw
Ah'm no Hairy Mary
Nor yer pet canary
Ah'm no Hairy Mary, ah'm yer maw

Oh, and you'll probably find that the song works better if you sing "canny" instead of "canna" because it rhymes, and it's also how it's pronounced here in the West (of Scotland)

Ye canny shove yer granny... see?


SD

Subject: RE: Lyr req: You canna throw your grannie off the bus
From: GUEST,HipflaskAndy
Date: 07 Sep 04 - 04:09 AM

Och ta very much Scabby!
It all comes flooding back!
Of course - canny/granny
Been awa' so lond I've forgotton a' I ever knew.
Ta for the reminder.
My family all hail fae Ayr by the way.
Another one I only vaguely remember from my old granny Mac was somethin' like...
As I was walking doon the road - I met a coo - a bull be goad!
Cheerio the noo - HFA

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: You canna throw your grannie off the bus
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 07 Sep 04 - 12:41 PM

Though I'm no expert on Scottish diction, I think the spelling should be "cannae" and "grannie."

In general, I have observed that Brits (and I use this term broadly, to include Scots) tend to favor –ie spellings for diminutives (Jimmie, Johnnie, etc.) while Americans favor –y (Jimmy, Johnny, etc.). Like all generalizations, this is only true most of the time, not 100% of the time. (I have to make this clear, because experience shows that any time you make a generalization at Mudcat, someone will know of an exception and will say so.)

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: You canna throw your grannie off the bus
From: GUEST,HipflaskAndy
Date: 07 Sep 04 - 01:42 PM

Ta Jim - whilst your quite right about that, there was no intent at presenting any of the lyric in any correct form of spelling - Scots or American - merely an attempt to put it down in a manner that read reasonably well.
'Nae' is pronounced 'nay' in many regions here in the UK - as in the expression 'nae (nay) bother' - meaning 'no problem'.
To write it out as ...
'You cannae shove your grannie aff a bus' ('aff' being 'off') may have some parts of the globe reading it wrong... as
'You cannay shove yer grannee' - even though you, me and soooo many others know 'cannae' sounds as 'canny'.
So, by writing it out as...
'You canny shove yer granny' - (or if you like, it could've been put as ..'you cannie shove yer grannie' -
the indication is therefore given that the word endings should sound the same resulting in it being pronounced (I hope) correctly by one and all, wherever they may be.
D'ye ken whit ah mean mon? Hugs - HFA

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: You canna throw your grannie off the bus
From: GUEST,Scabby Douglas (at work)
Date: 08 Sep 04 - 03:52 AM

Jim Dixon said:"Though I'm no expert on Scottish diction, I think the spelling should be "cannae" and "grannie.""

I appreciate what you are saying, Jim. I'm pretty sure that despite living in Scotland all my life (in my fifth decade) and having a deep love and abiding interest for Scots language, I'm not that much of an expert either.

However, I'd agree with Andy on this one - "cannae" is ambiguous as a pronunciation guide, while "canny" is pretty clear. Having said that , I think "grannie" and "granny" are more or less equivalent.

Maybe a compromise would be be "..canny shove yer grannie.."?

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: You canna throw your grannie off the bus
From: GUEST,Lanfranc at the orifice
Date: 08 Sep 04 - 05:12 AM

I seem to remember Alex Campbell (or was it Alex Norton?) singing:
"Ah'm no Hairy Mary, ah'm yer maw
Ah'm no Hairy Mary, ah'm yer maw
Ah'm no Hairy Mary
I'm yer faither's fairy
Ah'm no Hairy Mary, ah'm yer maw"

But I don't suppose that would be PC any more!

Alan

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: You canna throw your grannie off the
From: Billy Weeks
Date: 08 Sep 04 - 12:24 PM

I heard it as 'Ye shouldnae shove yer gronnie aff a tram', but that was long ago, when there were trams in Glasgow.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: You canna throw your grannie off the
From: GUEST,poppy & maisy
Date: 20 Mar 08 - 03:47 AM

yh we know loads more!
You canny throw your granny off the bus (push push)
You canny throw your granny off the bus (push push)
You canny throw your granny (push push)
Cause she is your mammy's mammy
You canny throw your granny off the bus. (push push)

we'll all go out to meet her when she comes (hello granny, push push)
we'll all go out to meet her when she comes (hello granny, push push)
we'll all go out to meet her, all go out to meet her
oh we'll all go out to meet her when she comes (hello granny, push push)

we'll all have chicken and dumplings when she stays (yum yum, hello granny, push push)

you canny eat your porridge with a fork (slurp slurp, yum yum, hello granny, push push)

my granny has a very itchy vest (itch itch, slup slurp, yum yum, hello granny, push push)

ect.
x x :) x x

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: You canna throw your grannie off the
From: Jim Carroll
Date: 20 Mar 08 - 04:08 AM

This was the basis for the famous anti nuclear song, 'Ding Dong Dollar', in the sixties, when the British Government gave the U.S. permission to build a nuclear submarine base on the Clyde:

"You canna spend a dollar when you're dead.
You canna....
Ding dong dollar, everybody holler,
You canna spend a dollar when you're dead.

Oh the Yanks have just dropped anchor in Dunoon,
And they got a civic welcome in the toon.
As they walked the measured mile bonnie Marie of Argyle
Was wearing spangled drawers beneath her goon.

Oh we dinna give a dochan and a damn,
For the heirs of Uncle Psychopathic Sam
If it's to heaven that you're going, it's a quicker way than rowing
......

Can't remember the rest, but there's lots, lots more.....

Good days!
Jim Carroll

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: You canna throw your grannie off the bus
From: Jim McLean
Date: 20 Mar 08 - 07:11 AM

Great times indeed, Jim. Here are the words as we (John Mack Smith, Morris Blythman and myself)wrote them. The last verse you printed came along later but don't know from where.

cho: O, ye cannae spend a dollar when ye're deid,
O, ye cannae spend a dollar when ye're deid
Singin' Ding Dong Dollar; Everybody holler
Ye cannae spend a dollar when ye're deid

Oh the Yanks have juist drapt anchor in Dunoon
An' they've had their civic welcome frae the toon,
As they cam' up the measured mile
Bonnie Mary o' Argyll
Wis wearin' spangled drawers a blow her goun.

An' the publicans will a' be daein' swell
For it's juist the thing that's sure tae ring the bell,
O the dollars they will jingle
There'll be no a lassie single
Even though they maybe blaw us a' tae hell.

But the Glesca Moderator dinnae mind,
In fact, he thinks the Yanks are awfy kind,
For it's heaven that ye're goin'
It's a quicker way than rowin'
An' there's sure to be naebody left behind.

final chorus O, ye cannae spend a dollar when ye're deid,
Sae tell Kennedy he's got tae keep the heid
Singin' Ding Dong Dollar; Everybody holler
Ye cannae spend a dollar when ye're deid

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: You canna throw your grannie off the
From: Jim Carroll
Date: 20 Mar 08 - 03:59 PM

Jim McLean (wonderful name!)
I remember being on one of the Holy Loch marches in the days when women weren't served in the pubs there.
Many of the marchers called into one of the pubs on the route, and finding the women couldn't get served, they walked out of the other door and back onto the march.
There was nearly an hours long snake of marchers passing through the bar.
Jim Carroll

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: You canna throw your grannie off the
From: Seamus Kennedy
Date: 20 Mar 08 - 11:40 PM

Oh ye cannae shove your grannie when she's shavin',
Oh ye cannae shove your grannie when she's shavin',
Oh ye cannae shove your grannie,
She might slip and cut her fannie,
Oh ye cannae shove your grannie when she's shavin'.

Seamus

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: You canna throw your grannie off the bus
From: GUEST,Bill the Collie
Date: 21 Mar 08 - 10:04 AM

Ma maw's a millionaire
Blue eyes an curly hair

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: You canna throw your grannie off the bus
From: GUEST
Date: 22 Mar 08 - 12:23 PM

Lookig at SD's post reminds me
("It wis murder, michty murder in the hoose"... etc)

Originally I belive that was a part of a progression suposedly reflecting Glasgow slum life.
The sequence is House -> School -> Gaol.

So the 2 subsequent verses are something like :

It's murder michty murder in the school
Where the teacher makes you sit doon on a stool
If ye dinnae ken your grammar, he'll hit you wi' a hammer
It's murder michty murder in the school

And it's murder michty murder in the gaol
Where they feed you bread and water frae a pail
If you ask them for a tinnie, they'll send you to Barlinnie
It's murder michty murder in the gaol.

You should find this version on an old Hamish Imlach album.

Chris Muriel, Manchester

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: You canna throw your grannie off the bus
From: Big Tim
Date: 22 Mar 08 - 12:38 PM

There's a great collection of songs like 'Grannie' in Ewan McVicar's recently published book 'Doh Ray Me, When Ah Wis Wee: Scots children's songs and rhymes'.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req:Oh ye cannae shove yer grannie aff the
From: GUEST,John and Alice
Date: 10 Apr 08 - 03:58 AM

We wrote this verse because our grandmother fell down our stairs.

You canny shove your granny down the stairs,
You canny shove your granny down the stairs,
You canny shove your granny cause she might wack her fannie,
You canny shove your granny down the stairs

Subject: RE: Lyr Req:Oh ye cannae shove yer grannie aff the
From: GUEST,Alice
Date: 10 Apr 08 - 04:08 AM

You canny whack your granny with the cane,
You canny whack your granny with the cane,
You canny whack your granny she'll be rosy on her fannie,
You canny whack your granny with the cane.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req:Oh ye cannae shove yer grannie aff the
From: Scabby Douglas
Date: 10 Apr 08 - 08:44 AM

Please note that in the UK you would NEVER suggest or refer to your granny's "fanny" or indeed "fannie", since here it means what I will euphemistically refer to as a lady's "front bottom"...


Hope this helps.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req:Oh ye cannae shove yer grannie aff the bus
From: GUEST,DHL
Date: 08 Apr 09 - 12:44 AM

From a Scot ... "Canny" means "clever" (careful & sly too) and "cannae" means "can't" This is a Scots version of the contraction for "can not". There's also "willnae" (will not) and every child's favorite "didnae", as in "I didnae do it, Mum!"

I have these lyrics and was wondering if anyone could fill in the blanks? [not the prettiest of lyrics, but my son loves them!!]

O' ye Canny Shove yer Granny aff the Bus

Oh, ye cannae shove yer Granny aff a bus
No, ye cannae shove yer Granny aff a bus
Oh, ye cannae shove yer Granny,
For she's yer Mammy's Mammy
No, ye cannae shove yer Granny aff a bus

Singing I will if you will so will I, etc

Ye can shove yer ither Granny aff a bus
… Cos she's yer Daddy's Mammy

Singing I will if you will so will I, etc

Ye can shove yer drunken uncle aff a bus
… For he needs another bottle

Singing I will if you will so will I, etc

Ye can shove yer ugly cousin aff the bus
Cos she's ???????? (anyone??)

Singing I will if you will so will I

Ye can shove yer Baby Brother Brother aff a bus
(Not your baby brother!)
Ye can shove yer Baby Brother Brother aff a bus
(oh that's so mean)
Ye can shove yer Baby Brother Brother
Cos ???????? (anyone??)

But ye cannae shove yer Granny aff a bus
(repeat first verse)

Subject: RE: Lyr Req:Oh ye cannae shove yer grannie aff the bus
From: GUEST,JC, guest
Date: 24 Nov 09 - 12:24 PM

Not sure for ugly cousin, "dime a dozen" kinda fits, but I doubt that's right.

As for baby brother, here you go:

"Ye can shove yer baby brother,
cos ye've got 9 more other,
oh ye can shove yer baby brother aff a bus."

... not sure if it was originally nine, I suspect any large number that fits the meter will do just fine. =)

Subject: RE: Lyr Req:Oh ye cannae shove yer grannie aff the bus
From: GUEST,Big Shug
Date: 29 Jan 10 - 06:06 AM

Try this.

Oh she loves tae play wae Wullies grand piano.
Oh she loves tae play wae Wullies grand piano.
Oh she loves tae play wae Wullies, loves tae play wae Wullies.
Oh she loves tae play wae wullies grand piano.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req:Oh ye cannae shove yer grannie aff the bus
From: Cuilionn
Date: 29 Jan 10 - 08:44 AM

This song is also featured in the series of Scottish Children's recordings done by "The Singing Kettle" (Cilla Fisher et al). We have a hantle of auld cassettes of these-- aye brilliant, though we've keekit oor lugs tae them sae mony times they're as scratchy as grannie's "awfy wooly vest."

Last week a Glaswegian freend o mine brocht Mince & Tatties tae a potluck here in Maine. She and I had a grand time beltin oot the vairse whaur "She'll feed us mince an tatties when we come."

Subject: RE: Lyr Req:Oh ye cannae shove yer grannie aff the bus
From: GUEST
Date: 07 Jul 10 - 07:27 AM

oh yer canny shove yer granny out the door
oh yer canny shove yer granny out the door
yer canny shove yer granny
yer canny shove yer granny
oh yer canny shove your granny out the door

Subject: RE: Lyr Req:Oh ye cannae shove yer grannie aff the bus
From: Leadfingers
Date: 07 Jul 10 - 07:36 AM

I havent this song sung since last Friday at the Brewery Tap in Brentford ! One of George MacColl's standards !\

Subject: RE: Lyr Req:Oh ye cannae shove yer grannie aff the bus
From: Bloke from Poole
Date: 08 Jul 10 - 07:38 AM

I heard it in Moffat about a week ago, it was played over the PA as part of the background music at the Moffat Mill shop.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req:Oh ye cannae shove yer grannie aff the bus
From: GUEST
Date: 30 Jul 10 - 02:31 PM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=td1XuS-FAgI

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3VCWROijdwM (alternate version)

Subject: RE: Lyr Req:Oh ye cannae shove yer grannie aff the bus
From: GUEST
Date: 25 Sep 10 - 12:23 PM

oh ye cannae get me grannie off the drugs,
oh ye cannea get me grannie off the drugs,
i cought her sniffing glue
now she's selling the big issue,
oh ye cannae get me grannie off the drugs.
singing aye aye yippy yippy aye
singing aye aye yippy yippy aye
singing aye aye yippy
my grannie is a hippy
oh ye cannae get me grannie off the drugs.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req:Oh ye cannae shove yer grannie aff the bus
From: GUEST,smurf
Date: 16 Feb 12 - 10:49 AM

any one no the guitar chords

Subject: RE: Lyr Req:Oh ye cannae shove yer grannie aff the bus
From: GUEST,Eliza
Date: 16 Feb 12 - 10:54 AM

"Ahm no Hairy Mairy, ahm yer ma!" We used to change this to "I'm not Hirsute Margaret, I'm your Mater!" sung in a very high, posh voice.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req:Oh ye cannae shove yer grannie aff the bus
From: Nigel Parsons
Date: 16 Feb 12 - 12:11 PM

I'm sorry, I must admit to having serious issues with the words presented in this thread:

Oh, ye cannae shove yer Granny aff a bus

1 • One should never be rough with elderly relatives. Being Scottish is no excuse.
2 • Anyway, it is quite clear that any reasonably built youngster should be quite capable of ejecting a female senior citizen from a bus (Unless it's the brolly-wielding Granny from the Giles cartoons)

Might I respectfully request that we attempt to educate & inform by a careful, and extensive re-wording of this song?

Oh, ye shidnae shove yer Granny aff a bus
etc



Cheers
Nigel (Tongue very firmly in cheek!)

Subject: RE: Lyr Req:Oh ye cannae shove yer grannie aff the bus
From: Richard from Liverpool
Date: 16 Feb 12 - 01:09 PM

naw, shidnae disnae rhyme wi Granny the way cannae dis

Subject: RE: Lyr Req:Oh ye cannae shove yer grannie aff the bus
From: GUEST,Eliza
Date: 16 Feb 12 - 01:21 PM

We also sang "Swing yer Grannie through the wa'" (A suggestion for one's dance moves at the Barrowlands) After being shoved off a bus, the poor lady is then swung through a wall. Not to mention having to purchase sweets for a wain 'sittin' on yer Grannies knee, greetin' fer a wee baubie tae buy some Coulter's candy' etc etc. What have Glaswegians got against Grannies?

Subject: RE: Lyr Req:Oh ye cannae shove yer grannie aff the bus
From: Nigel Parsons
Date: 17 Feb 12 - 03:16 AM

Or, in line with 'Big Shug's' post above:

Oh she loves tae play wae Wullies grand piano.
Oh she loves tae play wae Wullies grand piano.
Oh she loves tae play wae Wullies, loves tae play wae Wullies.
Oh she loves tae play wae wullies grand piano.

Please be careful, and don't replace 'shove' with 'toss'. The result could be unspeakable!

Oh, ye cannae toss yer Granny aff a bus
No, ye cannae to yer Granny aff a bus
Oh, ye cannae toss yer Granny aff,
Cannae toss yer Granny aff
Ye cannae toss yer Granny aff a bus.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req:Oh ye cannae shove yer grannie aff the bus
From: Dave MacKenzie
Date: 17 Feb 12 - 05:41 AM

Here's a verse I first heard from Ian Grant at EUFSS in c1966:

"You canny throw your granny off a yellow submarine"

Then we used to sing this a few years ago:

"Oh my Granny wears an awfy woolly vest (2x)
Oh my Granny wears a vest,
It's as hairy as her chest!
Oh my Granny wears an awfy woolly vest."

I'm not sure where it came from, but one of the meanings of grannie is a "chimney-cowl", the source of much confusion to Paw Broon in several stories, where he got it into his head that auld Mrs ..... wis stuck on the roof! (The Broons, still going strong in the 'Sunday Post')

Subject: RE: Lyr Req:Oh ye cannae shove yer grannie aff the bus
From: Jim McLean
Date: 17 Feb 12 - 07:23 AM

Eliza, there's no mention of a grannies in Coulter's Candy.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req:Oh ye cannae shove yer grannie aff the bus
From: GUEST,Eliza
Date: 17 Feb 12 - 02:15 PM

Oh dear, you're right, Jim. It's 'Sitting on yer Mammie's knee"! Sorry about that! But I've just realised, it's forty years since I was teaching in Glasgow, no wonder the memories grow dim!

Subject: RE: Lyr Req:Oh ye cannae shove yer grannie aff the bus
From: Little Hawk
Date: 18 Feb 12 - 12:49 AM

Whit a braw tune!

Subject: RE: Lyr Req:Oh ye cannae shove yer grannie aff the bus
From: GUEST,Katia
Date: 17 Feb 20 - 09:56 PM

I know this thread is old, but I wasn't sure I wanted to start a new one with this question (but I will if you all think I should)--

Not having grown up as a kid in Scotland, I'm only familiar with this song via the internet, discovered in adulthood. There seem to be two sets of words: one is the one referenced via most of this thread (discussing whether shoving various family members off the bus is an acceptable pastime), but the other set has been mentioned a couple times as well (more-tame words about going to see granny after school, she'll feed us mince and tatties, etc.).

Which is correct? Or is it both? The latter set strikes me as a "sanitized" version that may have been created later when someone decided the former wasn't something that ought to be taught to kids, but for all I know, the latter set are the originals and the former cropped up among adults as a parody...

(I'm pulling it out as a fun bit for a concert of Irish and Scottish music, and I want to make sure to get my history correct.)

Subject: RE: Lyr Req:Oh ye cannae shove yer grannie aff the bus
From: Helen
Date: 17 Feb 20 - 11:42 PM

I don't know the answer to your question Katia, but recently on a re-run of an old episode of an Australian music quiz show called Spicks & Specks, Eddie Reader was one of the guests and Ross Noble was another. Eddie was telling an anecdote about singing this song while busking and the host of the show, Adam Hills, looked totally mystified. Ross Noble started singing it and Eddie Reader joined in. They were singing the "shove yer grannie" version.

I have heard this song many years ago in Australia because one of the previous members of our session group used to sing the same version sometimes.

Helen

Subject: RE: Lyr Req:Oh ye cannae shove yer grannie aff the bus
From: An Buachaill Caol Dubh
Date: 18 Feb 20 - 10:37 AM

Neither do I know a definite answer to Katia's recent question, though for some fifty years I've only ever heard the verse involving the bus and the grannie, until encountering some additions in the last decade (and a few more in the last half-hour...). One of these not included above involved a brother and the same vehicle:

"O Ye cannae shove yr brither aff a bus,
Naw ye cannae shove yr brither aff a bus,
Ye cannae solve yr brither
Fur he's a drunken blether,
Ye cannae shove yr brither aff a bus"F

(A derivation from Burns's "Tam o'Shanter" seems likely for the "drunken blether" part; in Scotland, and no doubt at least some other countries, "blether" can be both verb and noun, singular for a person who blethers and plural for nonsensical chat and politicians' promises). This verse was sung, or declaimed, one New Year on Portobello beach near to Edinburgh, along with some others. It may be amusing, though admittedly unrelated to the immediate subject, to know of a contribution made less than a month later and in the same location, as part of an "Alternative Burns Supper" organised by the Scottish Socialist Party. There had been a few poems and songs made by the man himself, there had been Haggis &c. previously cut up and thus not "addressed", and then this young guy with a guitar steps up to the microphone (aye, there was a P.A. system as well);

"Good tae see yeez at this Burns Supper. Here's a song I just wrote a few days ago..."
(and then went on to sing it! Nae kiddin'!).

Subject: RE: Lyr Req:Oh ye cannae shove yer grannie aff the bus
From: Tattie Bogle
Date: 18 Feb 20 - 11:08 AM

Being a Grannie of 2 Scottish grandchildren who regularly sing this in school, I love it, including the line mentioned by Guest in 2010,
"Aye, yi yippie, grannie is a hippie". I think it was either Hamish Imlach or Billy Connolly who put that line in.
I would usually sing "faither's mammy" rather than "daddy's mammy" in the second verse.
And there are some ruder verses that we maybe don't sing with the kids, e.g.
She's got a lovely naval uniform,
She's git a lovely naval uniform,
She's got a lovely navel, got a lovely navel,
Got a lovely naval uniform.
(Deliberate double spelling to indicate double entendres!)

Subject: RE: Lyr Req:Oh ye cannae shove yer grannie aff the bus
From: weerover
Date: 18 Feb 20 - 04:56 PM

Tattie Bogle,

Heard this many times in Glasgow Uni Queen Margaret Union early 70s. Other verses:

She's got a lovely bottom...set of teeth
She's got a lovely Fanny...Craddock cook book
She's got a lovely country residence
She's got a lovely bust of Winston Churchill

...and many more lost by my imperfect ageing memory.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req:Oh ye cannae shove yer grannie aff the bus
From: Tattie Bogle
Date: 18 Feb 20 - 07:53 PM

Ha-ha, wee rover! Your memory is better than mine, but now you've jogged it, I do remember most of those verses!

Subject: RE: Lyr Req:Oh ye cannae shove yer grannie aff the bus
From: keberoxu
Date: 19 Feb 20 - 03:13 PM

This does regrettably call to mind that saccharine tune from the 1950's:

Throw Momma From the Train a tender Kiss ...

Subject: RE: Lyr Req:Oh ye cannae shove yer grannie aff the bus
From: GUEST,Gallus Moll
Date: 19 Feb 20 - 03:53 PM

Further to Eliza's fragment:-
Who did you see at th9e Barraland, honey, oh honey
Who did you see at the Barrowland, honey baby?
Who did you see at the Barrowland, a' the wee herries in the land
Come tae the Barraland ton-i-ght
Swing yer maw,Swing yer paw,
swing yer grannie through the wa'
Come tae the Barraland toni-i-ight.

(And mair verses tae be added later!!!)

Subject: RE: Lyr Req:Oh ye cannae shove yer grannie aff the bus
From: GUEST,Katia
Date: 19 Feb 20 - 10:47 PM

LOL... thanks, everyone; there's always good stuff to learn on Mudcat. :)

Subject: RE: Lyr Req:Oh ye cannae shove yer grannie aff the bus
From: GUEST
Date: 20 Feb 20 - 03:25 AM

Who did ye see in the picture hoose? Superman and Mickey Moose...
(From a privately produced LP of kids from Glasgow singing street songs. LP is long gone but more to come if I can remember any)

Subject: RE: Lyr Req:Oh ye cannae shove yer grannie aff the bus
From: weerover
Date: 20 Feb 20 - 01:59 PM

...and forgot to put my handle on that last post.